


Ho Ho Homo

by neversaydie



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Coming Out, Cute, Drunk Steve has no boundaries, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Natasha is an evil genius, Office Party, Ugly Holiday Sweaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 17:12:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5464487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neversaydie/pseuds/neversaydie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Ho Ho Homo."</p><p>Steve reads the text cross-stitched into the front of the red sweater in a completely deadpan voice, trying not to feel bad about how obviously excited Bucky is about his reaction. </p><p>"And I've got this one." Bucky holds up an obnoxiously-patterned green sweater with Tree Topper emblazoned across the front, along with a picture of some baubles in a very suggestive place. "They were a set, I couldn't resist."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ho Ho Homo

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas fluff! For once with no additional angst you bastards. Enjoy!

"Ho Ho Homo."

Steve reads the text cross-stitched into the front of the red sweater in a completely deadpan voice, trying not to feel bad about how obviously excited Bucky is about his reaction.

"And I've got this one." He holds up an obnoxiously-patterned green sweater with _Tree Topper_ emblazoned across the front, with a picture of some baubles in a very suggestive place. "They were a set, I couldn't resist. I figured we've got that ugly Christmas sweater party coming up at the office and they'd be perfect."

"Buck…" Steve folds the sweater and places it gingerly on the arm of the couch. He's not convinced that the bright dye isn't going to run and stain his furniture and Bucky's _definitely_ cleaning it up if that happens. He's not about to sacrifice his perfectly-re-covered re-claimed thrifted couch for some five dollar monstrosity Bucky has a boner for.

"I know, I know. I don't even top. _But_ c'mon, they were too cute to pass up." Bucky grins, holding the sweater up to his shoulders and twisting around in the big mirror that hangs on the living room wall. They didn't get all the gay genes, but they did apparently get the interior design ones because the apartment is _immaculate_. Hard to maintain with a clumsy Steve and a stroppy dog around, but they manage. "We can swap if you want, it's just red's more your colour."

"Don't you think if we wear these to the office then people are gonna… know?" He's still not over that Catholic hangover of not referring to their relationship in explicit terms, despite the fact they've been together for nearly two years now and sharing an apartment for over six months.

They're not out at work. Well, Steve isn't, and their relationship certainly isn't office-wide knowledge. The call centre staff are way too obsessed with gossip and pulling pranks for Steve to have been comfortable talking about their relationship when it was in its infancy, and since then he's just… never become comfortable. Their friends outside work know about them, obviously, but he can't shake the idea that work is work and his colleagues don't really need to know anything about his personal life. _Especially_ when they're liable to start meddling in his and Bucky's affairs without so much as a _by your leave_.

Except Clint has been trying to set him up with his ex for two months now. And Bruce gave him a book about _loving his single self_ for his birthday. And Natasha might have called him a sad loser and glared at him the last time he'd told someone he was single in front of her (she's close with Bucky and Steve suspects she already knows the real deal here), so _maybe_ it's getting to the point where people should probably know they're an item.

And, most importantly, Bucky is looking at him with those big, sad, puppy-dog eyes that tell Steve he's going to feel the full force of his Catholic guilt until he gives his boyfriend what he wants. At least doing it at the office party means he'll be drunk for most of the awkwardness.

"I guess they've gotta find out sometime." He acquiesces, reluctantly, although the reluctance disappears the second Bucky's face breaks into a bright smile. A smile that's relieved at the edges, perhaps.

"I was starting to think you were ashamed of me or something, Rogers." Bucky sounds a little too thankful for it to be a joke, although he's trying to make it sound like one. Steve gets up off the couch and wraps his arms around him, because apparently he'd missed that this was a big deal to his boyfriend.

"Never." He promises, kissing Bucky and pulling back to look him in the eyes with a grin. "It'll be fine. I'll be drunk and you can touch my ass all you want. People will think it's cute."

"Darcy's gonna put pictures on her tumblr, you mean. She ships us hardcore." Bucky doesn't sound unhappy about it, though, and Steve holds back his internal sigh in favour of kissing him again.

If he finds out people in the office actually _ship them_ , he's going to need a lot more than spiked punch and a comedy sweater to get through this party.

*

"Tony, get over here." Natasha is perched delicately on top of the copy machine, killer heels abandoned on the floor in front of her as she counts money and looks like some kind of mafia don. She raises her voice when their line manager ignores her in favour of doing something suspicious to the printer that involves a screwdriver and a lighter. "Tony! You owe me fifty bucks!"

"No. _No_." He drops the screwdriver and staggers his way over, the edge of his goatee clearly singed from whatever the hell he's been drunkenly tinkering with. "Since when?!"

"Since… Last March?" Clint has glittery reindeer antlers on his head that almost fall off when he leans over to tug on Bucky's shoulder where he's standing behind them. "Bucky, since when?"

"March?" Bucky grins, screwing up one eye unsteadily as he thinks. "Yeah, we got together in March."

"No! It was fuckin' _January_. We went out on Valentine's Day, that's like… between January and March." Steve is definitely a little the worse for wear, staying upright with an arm slung around Bucky's shoulders and bright pink booze-flushed cheeks as he loudly corrects them all. Bucky's disgustingly proud of them in their matching sweaters and it shows. " _And_ we hooked up at the Christmas party before that."

"Wait, hold on." Clint interrupts him to grab Natasha's attention again. "That changes everything, I want my twenty back."

"Hooking up doesn't constitute getting together, you should've read the fine print in your contract, Barton." She doesn't even pause in counting her loot, smiling serenely as the total passes two hundred. Clint pouts and downs the rest of his punch as Tony reluctantly forks over his bet, complaining loudly about fraud.

"Guys, smile!" Darcy and Wanda, youngest kids in the office and apparently the ones who 'hardcore ship' Steve and Bucky together, are ready with their phones to snap pictures that will no doubt end on some blogging site their elders choose not to understand.

Bucky is pulling his best picture smile when Steve tugs him into a sloppy kiss, sparking wolf-whistles from their friends as the cameras flash. They break apart with flushed faces and grins, and Steve drops his head to rest on Bucky's shoulder and drunkenly giggle into his neck at the absurdity of it all. The pictures turn out to be worth the hangover.

A couple of years later, Natasha gets them the ugly Christmas sweaters framed as a wedding present. She was the one who promised Bucky they'd get Steve out of the closet, after all.


End file.
